Kentucky gambling expansion may move to front burner

Mark R. Chellgren

Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2002 | 9:23 a.m.

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The stars may be aligning to put expanded gambling back on the front burner of Kentucky public policy debate.

Here's how Gov. Paul Patton set up a scenario during an interview last week.

"It would appear that we may have -- there's a good likelihood -- that the revenue will not be as much as the budget, the spending plan is based upon," Patton said.

"If that is in fact the case, there are two choices: cut expenditures or raise revenue. If raising revenue, there may very well be two choices: one would be to increase taxes, the other would be expanded gaming.

"Of those two, I think that expanded gaming would be preferable."

Patton said the alternative to raising money has its own problems.

"The other option is that the Legislature might cut spending. At this point, I am not prepared to recommend any major cuts in spending because they would have to be in education. And I just don't think education can take any cuts," Patton said.

"And I don't think we can expect our colleges and universities to accommodate what must be a significant increase in enrollment with less money. And certainly our elementary and secondary schools are not going to be able to provide the pay raises for their teachers if they don't get the amount of money that's in the spending plan.

"Then you're talking about two-thirds of the budget," Patton said.

"Prisons can't take any less money. We're really stressed on prisons. Medicaid can't take a cut. When you say that, there's very little left in state government to cut.

"You just can't cut those four areas without having direct and immediate effect service delivery to the people of Kentucky," Patton concluded.

Patton is trying to be careful around the topic, and responded only when asked about the state's overall fiscal situation. He stayed out of the gambling debate when it bounced around the General Assembly earlier this year.

But a few years ago, he identified expanded gambling as the only ready source of revenue to take on some projects that he identified as close to his heart, including farmland preservation and urban renewal.

Since then the Republican takeover of the state Senate appears to have doomed any serious consideration of overhauling the state tax code that would mean any additional revenue anytime soon.

It was the argument put forth earlier this year by Kentucky's racetracks. They offered relatively small percentages of their take to the state in exchange for exclusive franchises to make money. But they said the dollars could be huge -- a billion over six years.

Nevertheless, they convinced enough members of a House committee to approve a bill, which eventually died before coming to a vote before the full House. Once again, supporters blamed the Republican Senate for killing the gambling idea -- the sometimes twisted logic of the Legislature is that bills die in one chamber because the presumption is they would die in the other and taking a tough vote is pointless without something to show for it.

There seemed little enthusiasm for casting a vote on casinos at racetracks in any event.

And lost in the debate shaped by the racetracks was whether Kentucky should look into full-blown casinos, perhaps scattered around the state, contributing tax dollars to local communities as well as the state.

Or whether the state should cut out the middlemen altogether and open its own casinos, perhaps at state parks where other amenities are already in place.

Two nagging constitutional questions loom, though, if the topic is to come up again in 2003.

One is whether a constitutional amendment is required to allow state-sanctioned gambling beyond the Kentucky Lottery Corp. The lottery signed onto the race track casino bill this year when they were cut into the bargain. And lottery officials maintain they have the authority to operate casinos, even if through the tracks, without any farther constitutional authority. Opponents are skeptical and the Rev. Nancy Jo Kemper, leader of Citizens Against Gambling Expansion, has promised a court fight.

Kemper has also said gambling opponents are cravenly taking advantage of the economic problems of Kentucky to pursue their agenda.

The other is the requirement that in odd-year sessions, any measure to raise revenue or spend money requires a three-fifths majority vote of both chambers. And finding 23 senators and 60 representatives to vote for casino gambling is a real long-shot bet.